Hello all. Here is my story and hopefully I get some good advice. As a kid I suffered from anxiety. Between beiing bullied and always wanting to fit in I became diagnosed with gad. It got better with age, but I was always on some kind of medicine. Come college and meeting my now husband I decided to slowly get off my medicinei but the anxiety was still there..just subtle.

Forward to now( just spent the last six months building our first home and closed successfully..it was a stressful six months..but after closing last month I havent felt stressed or anxious.) Few weeks ago I started to randomly have tachycardia / panic attacks ( or so I'm starting to believe) I get light headed, flush and my heart just takes off. I've had multiple ekgs, chest X-ray, ct scan of chest, halter monitors and a stress test. All revealed a healthy heart. And since these 'episodes' my symptoms have spiraled out of control.

Since that first trip to er i have been terrified and thinking I have everything in the book! My symtoms have progressed to numbness in arms, hands feet, pain in left arm and both feet oddly enough. I've had shortness of breath and a general feeling of foggyness and just generally not feeling well. My cardiologist has told me I'm healthy. But my GP has told me that while it may be true that it is anxiety she wants to rule out all serious things first. I have an mri scheduled for Thursday and lots of blood work scheduled Monday morning. Any advice or similar stories would be helpful. But I'm pretty sure I'm suffering the full effects of anxiety and stress, but all serious things are being ruled out in the process just in case. :)

I can totally relate that is how my anxiety comes back every time starts with a racing heart one day then I'll have months of panic and anxiety. I too have had a lot of tests done and still the thought always creeps in my mind it's something way worse. It blows my mind that out of no where my heart will just start yo race for no apparent reason it even happens after I eat now. It's very frustrating I know so just know that no your not alone and all of those other symptoms you have I get too and it's all related to anxiety. I hope after you have all of the tests run that you start to find some relief in knowing that it's just anxiety and you can start to heal. I'm sick right now horribly and my heart has been around 100-115 all day and I just keep having to remind myself that because I'm sick that is the reason for my fast heart rate. I'm sending good energy your way!!

You have all the classic symptoms of anxiety disorder. The shortness of breath, fogginess, heart racing, getting flush...all bodily symptoms of anxiety and panic

It's a good idea to rule out anything else medically but chances are, as your doctor already said, you are probably just fine. Many of us have gone through the same things including me. I used to go to countless doctor's visits thinking something MUST be wrong. In fact, they could never find anything. Mind you, this was in the days when anxiety disorder wasn't even really known or talked about...I'm talking about 20+ years ago when anxiety/panic disorder was a "new" phenomenon.

Some people have bouts of anxiety/panic that come and go. If this is you, then it sounds like you need to find a way to ride it out...maybe relaxation, meditation, positive affirmations, family/friends support. But if your symptoms persist and it's not going away, then it might be best for you to go back on a low dose of medication. I've been on medication for more than 20 years. A few times, I would take myself off feeling like it was weakness if I took something, but inevitably, the anxiety/panic would come back, along with severe depression. So now, I've accepted that taking medication is a lifelong commitment.

Thank you both so much for the responses. You both are so nice to comment and send well wishes my way. It is amazing how out of the blue this can hit. I never really dreamed of the anxiety coming back full force like this bc my symptoms back in the day weren't anything like this. So of course I never though it could be anxiety.

Small update: saw my cardiologist for event monitor results today and he says my heart is healthy. He says to go ahead with the other tests but if they come back negative then there's your sign! I guess my only two concerns witth my symptoms are the intermittent left leg pain and foot/ arm pinky toe falling asleep a lot...but we'll see once I get the MRI done and the rest of my blood work. Doctor suggests a pinched nerve from all the pain and numbness. It is plausible.

He advocated how much exercise works wonders so I'm starting to work out and he wants an update in about a month on how I feel. Guess I'll keep you guys updated on the forums! :-)